Forthampton is a village in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England The village is located three miles from the market town of

Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Ri ...

and features "a great number of interesting buildings", fine views, several duck ponds, a church, a collection of thatched cottages and farmsteads, a village hall and a village club. Forthampton was designated a Conservation Area in 2003 due to its special architectural and historic interest, character and appearance which it was desirable to preserve and enhance. Notable features of the village include extensive historic buildings clustered around farm houses situated at the centre of the village, the many roadside ponds and grass verges around and between buildings and significant panoramic views. The village forms a wide arc on rising, elevated ground well above the flood-plain of the Severn, from Hill End on the south to Sezincote on the east. Near the crown of the arc is the greatest concentration of houses and the church. The centre of the village is approximately 175' above sea level affording fine views over the Severn Valley.

The Church

Forthampton is home to the church of St Mary the Virgin, which is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

. The church is of significant historical interest and forms part of the wider Severnside Benefice, which comprises the Parishes of Chaceley, Forthampton, Deerhurst with Apperley, and Tredington with Stoke Orchard and Hardwicke. The Benefice is set in the Severn Vale, and is part of the Diocese of Gloucester. The church consists of a nave, chancel, north aisle, west tower, and south porch. The tower is 13th-century with massive diagonal west buttresses and a stair-vice on the north-east corner. The tower has three stages and a plain parapet. The font is a memorial to Susan Plumtre who died in 1849. It is elaborately fashioned in stone and marble. There is stained glass in the church - in the west window of the north aisle - by Clayton & Bell, 1862. The chancel was restored in 1864-66 by

William Burges William Burges (; 2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century industrialisation and the Neoc ...

, who also added the reredos, the altar rails, and some stained glass. In the churchyard, there is a whipping post and stocks, west of the church. The post has manacles and stocks for three which have survived from 1787. At the bottom of the hill is the Pound Pond, which is believed to have been the ducking pool for scolding wives. Forthampton was originally owned by the Church, hence such street names as 'Bishop's Walk' and 'Church Lane'. The abbots of Tewkesbury used Forthampton Court as a residence from the mid twelfth to mid sixteenth centuries.

Yorke Almshouses

To the east of the Church stands a row of four almshouses by

of 1863-64. The almshouses are Grade II listed buildings.

Forthampton Court

A medieval residence of the Bishops of Tewkesbury with many subsequent alterations including work by

Anthony Keck Anthony Keck (1726–1797) was an 18th-century English architect with an extensive practice in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and South Wales. Life Keck was born at Randwick, Gloucestershire in 1726 He designed in the "austere ...

in the eighteenth century and substantial re-modelling and additions by

Philip Webb Philip Speakman Webb (12 January 1831 – 17 April 1915) was a British architect and designer sometimes called the Father of Arts and Crafts Architecture. His use of vernacular architecture demonstrated his commitment to "the art of commo ...

in 1889-92.

Gallery

Forthampton_StMarys.JPG, St Mary's Church Tower - interior view Forthampton_SE_View_(1).JPG, Southeasterly view Forthampton_View_SouthEast_(2).JPG, Southerly view Forthampton_ViewEast.JPG, Easterly view StMarysEntranceRoadForthampton.jpg, Entrance to St. Mary's DucksOnForthamptonPond.jpg, Varied wildlife in the village and environs Forthampton Almshouses.jpg, Yorke Almshouses by

St Marys Pond Forthampton.JPG, The pond outside St Mary's church, Forthampton Brewers Cottage Forthampton.JPG, Brewers Cottage, Forthampton Bishops Walk Forthampton.JPG, View west up Bishop's Walk, Forthampton. Main pond is on the left of the photograph

Notes

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Gloucestershire